Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and sprinkle the cut side with a little salt and allow to sweat for about 10 minutes. This will help to get rid of some of the bitterness. Wipe away the sweat with a paper towel.

Slice the top of the eggplant into cubes without cutting through the skin. Brush the sliced side with a little bit of sesame oil and lay cut side down on a baking sheet.Bake for 45 minutes at 350 F.

In a small sauce pan prepare your sauce by combining the rest of the sesame oil, mirin, brown sugar, soy sauce, miso and smashed garlic. Simmer the mixture until the sugar dissolves and sauce coats the back of a spoon. About 5 minutes. Set aside.

After the eggplant has been in the oven for about 45 minutes, take it out, turn the halves around so that now the cut side is facing up and spoon over some of the sauce. You want the eggplant to be well coated.

Return it to the oven and continue to bake for another 1 – 1.5 hours basting with the sauce every once and a while.Eggplant is done when the top and all of the cut sides are completely golden brown and eggplant just barely keeps its form. You can also finish it off under the broiler if you like, but keep a close eye on it as it will burn extremely fast.